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Hybrid Hot Water?

February 2nd, 2011 · 7 Comments

Geek alert. May not be interesting to the casual reader. Technical, gadget-type stuff.

We have had our current water heater for over 15 years (it came with the house). It’s inefficient and I’m concerned that it is ready to cause another flood. So I updated to the latest technology.

I got a GE Geospring water heater. It has a conventional electrical resistance water heater combined with a heat pump. Heat pumps are much more efficient — it uses less than half the electricity to heat water using the heat pump alone. However, a heat pump is slower, so the resistive part helps when demand is higher. There’s a nice animation here.

On the negative side it was about 3 times as expensive as a conventional electric water heater, but the savings in electricity should pay for the difference in about 3 years. So it’s really an investment.

On the plus side, the heat pump extracts heat from the environment to heat the water, so it will actually help to cool the garage (a little). A nice benefit in the summer, but not so useful right now while the outside temperature is in the 30s, and supposed to drop into the 20s tonight.

Took me most of the day to install. I’m OK at sweating (soldering) copper pipes, but it took me a while to figure out that one of the pipes had water dripping into it, and it’s almost impossible to solder a wet pipe.

Now, don’t you non-techy types wish you had observed the warning at the top? Is there anything much more boring than a water heater?

Tags: Computers, Tech & Science · Family Updates

7 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Dale // Feb 3, 2011 at 7:57 pm

    Did you study the pros and cons of tankless hot water heaters?

  • 2 Daryl // Feb 4, 2011 at 9:15 am

    Yes I did. I used tankless water heaters in Taiwan, and I studied the latest forum comments.

    My main concern was irregular temperature (shower hot one minute, cold the next), and lack of capacity if showering and washing clothes at the same time.

  • 3 Mom // Feb 4, 2011 at 9:39 am

    Such a mundane request, but one of these days, when you are in your technological mode, please remember that I need a flashlight. Light can be nearly as important as heat.

  • 4 Donna // Feb 5, 2011 at 10:54 am

    Did you consider solar?

  • 5 Daryl // Feb 5, 2011 at 11:49 am

    Donn, yes. I just remember your solar water heater, and the mess it became after a few years. Everything was rusted and corroded.

    Maybe newer solar water heaters work better, but I’m leery of them.

  • 6 Donna // Feb 5, 2011 at 3:12 pm

    I don’t remember the heater becoming a mess, but the roof panels corroded and began to leak and ruined part of the roof. It had to be repaired and many shingles replaced.

  • 7 Hybrid Hot Water Heater Followup // Oct 12, 2011 at 12:06 pm

    […] posted in February about installing a new hybrid hot water heater. Although the initial price was almost […]